From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Clarifying a misunderstanding about production methods and the importance of collaborating with specialists.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 180\M2\M2.1\ img017 | |
| Date | 25th January 1918 | |
| To EH. from R.{Sir Henry Royce} C. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to BJ. ORIGINAL RECEIVED X3054. Re - Methods of Production. RL/W25.1.18. = (3 I think you have scarcely read my memo in the spirit in which it was written. I did not intend to infer that the work you were doing was not worth the time you were spending upon it, and it appears from your memo that you really were carrying out the work in conjunction with the various special departments of the drawing office. This was scarcely made clear in your first memo and hency my suggestion. You will realise, however, that it is far more important to concentrate your energies on such work as that described in your memo 18.1.18., referring to exhaust valves, and this is exactly the kind of information that you ought to give your very first attention to, because this is a hundred times more important than any changes in the method of manufacture. I hope I made it clear that if you have any time after your usual experimental testing, we shall be delighted if you will use it in testing improved methods of production in connection with the specialists of each department in the drawing office. My fear was that you were going on your own, and attempting to make tools by yourselves independent of such specialists as Mr. Cockshott and Mr. Moon, who should know all that has been done and many reasons for failure and reasons why certain features of design should be avoided. I now understand that you are working in the way suggested in my memo, and I think if you had made this clear, I should | ||